Some venues you show up to and immediately start planning where you are going to shoot. SoireEstate is one of those. It sits on a quiet road in Lutz, about twenty five minutes north of Tampa, and the whole property is oak trees and string lights and little pockets of green that look like somebody built them specifically to be photographed in.
Sydney and Justin filled it with dusty blue and white roses and roughly two hundred people who came ready to have a good time. Here is how the day went.
Getting Ready
The morning started the way the best ones do, which is to say loud. Sydney got ready with her bridesmaids in matching blue floral pajamas, and the suites at this venue are big and bright enough that you never feel like you are shooting in a hallway.
The Reveals
Before Justin saw her, two other groups did, and honestly these are some of my favorite photos of the entire day.
First the bridesmaids. They lined up with their backs turned, Sydney walked out, and then there was a lot of screaming. Good screaming.
Then Dad. He turned around and did the thing every dad does, which is try very hard for about two seconds and then completely give up.
The Ceremony
They got married in The Garden, which is the part of the property that sold me the second I walked it. A wooden pergola draped in dusty blue, sitting under a canopy of Southern live oaks, with string lights running through the branches. Even empty it looks like something.
A Few Words About SoireEstate
If you landed here because you are considering this venue, here is the honest rundown from someone who spent a full day working it.
SoireEstate sits on a former nursery property in Lutz, which explains why the landscaping is genuinely good instead of just decorative. There are five distinct spaces and you will use most of them. The Garden is the ceremony spot, with the live oak canopy and the arched wooden bridge you cross to get there. The Courtyard has a waterfall wall and turf and string lights, and it works beautifully for cocktail hour. The Stable House is a converted equestrian building with hardwood floors and exposed beams, and the ivy on the exterior at golden hour is unreal. The Overlook gives you white ranch fencing and open pasture framed by more oaks. And The Pavilion is 4,400 square feet with wooden ceilings and greenery chandeliers, which means your reception happens indoors without ever feeling like a warehouse.
They also run an all inclusive package that covers catering, DJ, bar, and the sparkler send off, so a lot of the vendor scramble just disappears. It holds up to 500 people, which is a lot for a place that still feels tucked away.
Golden Hour
The ivy wall on the Stable House catches late light in a way I have not really seen anywhere else around Tampa. We stepped out for about fifteen minutes and got most of my favorite frames of the day.
The Pavilion
Then everybody moved inside, and The Pavilion did its thing.
The Send Off
And then, sparklers. Two lines of people, a tunnel of light, and these two walking straight through the middle of it. I will take this exit every single time.
Planning Something Similar?
Sydney and Justin, thank you for a genuinely fun day and for trusting me with it.
If you are looking at SoireEstate, or anywhere around Tampa, Lutz, or up toward Land O' Lakes, I would love to hear what you are planning. There is more of my work on the portfolio, and you can get in touch here. I answer every message myself, usually faster than I should.